Northern Illinois. How is your selling going and turning feedback into positives (2014, cheapest)

[redshoe]

Selling is harsh in a slower cold housing market. Keeping the homes show ready can be exhausting. How do you stay positive and focused when feedback from showings list things you can't change like. "Our Furnitire won't fit". Rooms too small. Etc?


My home is 2500 sq foot w a 1400 sq foot unfinished basement. Lowest priced in the subdivision but it's rough up here and I'm feeling bummed at all the hard work and money spent to make home look like a model home and no interest.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by redshoe

Selling is harsh in a slower cold housing market. Keeping the homes show ready can be exhausting. How do you stay positive and focused when feedback from showings list things you can't change like. "Our Furnitire won't fit". Rooms too small. Etc?


My home is 2500 sq foot w a 1400 sq foot unfinished basement. Lowest priced in the subdivision but it's rough up here and I'm feeling bummed at all the hard work and money spent to make home look like a model home and no interest.

I have seen lots of crummy "shoppers" leave feedback that really made the sellers sick to the stomach.

First thing: You can't control what other people, just how you react to it. When it comes the house that you are selling you sound like you somebody that as already taken the time to declutter and make the place ready for showings so if one or two idiots with furniture designed for somebody whose tastes are 100% "super sized" don't give it a second thought --
If the buyers have a couch like that their feedback is not somebody that should alter your vision! {Heck, they should get their eyes checked, maybe their binges on TV dinners should be cut back too...}

Second thing: If you have any kind of decent listing agent they almost certainly have gotten nice pictures online that showcase your home to potential buyers. One of these pictures is going to tell buyers "this home is too small and we could never fit our stuff in it" while the other says "wow, if we move here our lives will be wonderful". Make sure you listing agent has chosen shots that do the latter, not the former --

Sub topic: While I generally agree that homes should be staged to showcase how most people live, my personal view is that if you have a home in an area where it is more common to have kids running around with juice boxes and bowls full of mac 'n cheese it does not make sense to make the whole house look like it is ready for a wine and cheese soiree. That means even a nicely staged room can unfortunately turn-off buyers if it does not reflect the reality of the neighborhood. What is great for a retirement community is going to alienate buyers with kids --
Sure, your buyers are not going to have white jacquard sofas if they give their kids grape jelly sandwiches, but subconsciously this image tells those buyers with kids this is "not the HOUSE for us". If you are able to, stage to the EXPECTATIONS of buyers even if that is not how you live. I know it is a pain, but consider your house to be essentially a "store" where you are selling buyers a little 'fantasy'. { If you have to promise the kids a trip to DisneyLand or get them prince & pirate customers (that they tuck into their toy chest before you leave for showings) or have to get a 'French Maid' outfit to have hubby hang up his jeans & sweats it will all be worth it! }

I know that sometimes rooms really are kind of on the small side (heck, that might be why you are moving). You can't do much to make it actually bigger. If you just empty the room out and are left with something that now looks even smaller it may be worth consider trying to play up the fantasy. Consider getting rid of the bed and furniture and make it an extra playroom. If you can justify a fun mural (and that fits with the target of family with pre-school kids for your neighborhood...) you might be amazed at how that formerly "small empty room" leaves buyers WOWED --

[GotHereQuickAsICould]

All it takes is one, just one couple to walk in and say, "This feels lie home." All the rest of them miss their chance.

That's what I tell myself. I try to show off our homes as best I can. But really, it's down to that couple that keeps driving by, wondering if this is the one.

I think staging can help people decide if this feels like home. Both the realtor and the stager who helped us sell our last home told us that a professional couple with no kids would be likely buyers.

Sure enough.

Glad we staged it as a relaxing retreat for two busy people.

[redshoe]

We've been staged and professionally photographed and in fact got rid of a kids mural because it was so ugly. The kids rooms are on the small size and practically empty. Our furniture /decor is pottery barn type but very livable since we also have kids and I would call our neighborhood rural yet classy- and a nice mix of kids-teens and soon to be empty nesters as the kids go to college. Most of the homes have finished basements so that puts them in the 4500-5000 sq foot. My house does not have a finished basement so I'm in the 2500 sq foot.


What I don't get is that shoppers can clearly see the footage and the walk thru video for scale so why waste their time coming out to just say it's too small? We also had a shopper say "price too high"--again..they see the price before hand. We are the cheapest priced house on the market right now which is a head scratcher as well.

I get so jealous of these hot markets where a shack could be listed for a million bucks and have 20 offers on the first day...yes I'm looking at you San Fran, Portland, Boston and Denver!!!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by redshoe

We've been staged and professionally photographed and in fact got rid of a kids mural because it was so ugly. The kids rooms are on the small size and practically empty. Our furniture /decor is pottery barn type but very livable since we also have kids and I would call our neighborhood rural yet classy- and a nice mix of kids-teens and soon to be empty nesters as the kids go to college. Most of the homes have finished basements so that puts them in the 4500-5000 sq foot. My house does not have a finished basement so I'm in the 2500 sq foot.


What I don't get is that shoppers can clearly see the footage and the walk thru video for scale so why waste their time coming out to just say it's too small? We also had a shopper say "price too high"--again..they see the price before hand. We are the cheapest priced house on the market right now which is a head scratcher as well.

I get so jealous of these hot markets where a shack could be listed for a million bucks and have 20 offers on the first day...yes I'm looking at you San Fran, Portland, Boston and Denver!!!

Your listing agent probably has helped you set your price by comparing your home to those that have recently sold. They should also have data about average time on the market in your price range and the percentage of offer-to-ask. That factual information is generally much more reliable for purposes of ensuring that you are correctly priced than the comments folks leave after a showing.

You know they say about opinions and bodily orifices for excrement dispersal...

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by redshoe

I get so jealous of these hot markets where a shack could be listed for a million bucks and have 20 offers on the first day...yes I'm looking at you San Fran, Portland, Boston and Denver!!!

It is hard to hear those stories, but northern Illinois isn't exactly a comparable market to those cities, so all that jealousy is futile.

"Price too high" means they think the price is too high for what you're offering and probably not close enough for them to make an offer that won't seem like a lowball. Just being the lowest house on the list doesn't mean your house is priced RIGHT for what it offers. Without a finished basement, a new family is thinking about that long winter with kids indoors and wondering how they would manage.

Our agent took us out to tour homes in the price range at which we were getting ready to list ours. It was a real wake-up call that showed us what other homes buyers were looking at while they were considering our house.

[NOLA2SGF]

I wonder if the market in Northern Illinois might heat up and become a seller's market, soon. It seems like this is happening in a lot of places in the US lately. My completely unprofessional judgment as a real estate buyer and seller last summer, is that the market here in New Orleans is really hot compared with 2010, anyway.

Maybe your luck will change!

[redshoe]

I think the sky high property taxes spell doom for Illinois and keep it from heating up. We are about to pass NJ for the highest property taxes in the United States. A person leaves the state every 5 minutes. I pay 9400 a year on property taxes. That's insane.

I talked to my agent out the seller feedback. She says every single feedback on every home says "too high". She said you'll never see any feedback that says "priced right". We are just in a slower market. Average days on market before a sell are 141. We did decide to lower by 5 grand since we are moving for a relo (not a juicy pkg either, bare bones relo)

I don't even know why I'm so bummed...the houses we are looking at in Orlando are selling like hot cakes. Seems that market is making a comeback. So I feel hosed on both ends. I'm not thrilled with the inventory down there. Big giant subdivisions where every house looks the same. HOA's and terrible school ratings.

On the one hand I can't wait to escape these taxes and start a new chapter yet I feel like I'll be giving up so much to relocate and uproot everyone.

[NOLA2SGF]

Those taxes are awful! I'd be looking for a way out, too.

I paid $956 at my old house, and probably $1200 or so at my new-to-me house. Insurance is what clobbers us, here.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by redshoe

I talked to my agent out the seller feedback. She says every single feedback on every home says "too high". She said you'll never see any feedback that says "priced right". We are just in a slower market.

The only "feedback" that matters is an offer.

It does suck to feel like you're on the losing end in selling AND buying. In a year all this will probably be a distant memory.